Conventional pneumatic tires have sidewalls or portions thereof of different color than the remainder of the tire. Typically, tires have a black tread and sidewall but the provision of raised, generally white, letters or colored areas in the tire sidewall has been in great demand by the public and is being provided by virtually all tire manufacturers. These decorative sidewalls are usually built integrally with the pneumatic tires by well known procedures. However, such decorative tires are not only costly to build and involve relatively expensive manufacturing procedures, but also may make use of pigments that are not always fully compatible with the remaining portions of the tire sidewall.
While efforts have conventionally been made to provide removable types of sidewall trim members that may be affixed in, or to, a pneumatic tire sidewall, it has been difficult to provide pneumatic tire trim members that may be positively secured in place on, or in combination with, a pneumatic tire sidewall so as to remain in good operative engagement therewith over a long service life.
Conventional efforts to resolve these problems have included the use of removable sidewall or trim members wherein a radially inner edge or flange section is physically interlocked between the tire bead and the wheel flange when the tire is deflated and being positioned on the wheel. Such efforts have complicated mounting and dismounting of the tire to the wheel. Other conventional efforts have included securing the tire sidewall to the tire and wheel assembly by means of a wheel cover or hub cap that attaches and engages a radial inner portion of a sidewall to secure the wheel cover in place.
Another conventional effort utilizes an annular flexible tire trim member that engages a sidewall of a tire via coupling means having continuous annular grooves and lips on sidewall members and the tire sidewall. These circumferentially continuous coupling means may also utilize male or female coupling on the tire sidewall to match a complementary female or male coupling on an inner face of the sidewall. However, this continuous type of coupling or retention, once disengagement is initiated at any one point, rapidly continues until the entire member disengages. In addition, individualized or personalized styling treatments, as may be desired by the end user, are generally not feasible.
Still another conventional removable sidewall trim member utilizes a detachable tire sidewall addition member in combination with a circumferentially discontinuous first coupling means adapted to operatively interact with a complementary second coupling means on the tire sidewall addition member for securing the sidewall addition member to the tire sidewall. Typically, a plurality of geometrically-shaped, detachable sidewall addition members may be utilized with each sidewall addition member having its own coupling means adapted to operatively interact with one of a plurality of independent and circumferentially discontinuous coupling means on the tire sidewall. Each coupling means may be independent, localized, and separate from the other coupling means, i.e., no one annular coupling means in the tire sidewall that is circumferentially continuous relative to the annular extent of the sidewall and no continuous coupling means on the addition member that may engage more than one coupling means on the tire sidewall.
The location on the tire sidewall of the various conventional addition members may be both a matter of choice and/or function of intended use. The addition members may take the form of a great variety of geometric shapes, colors, and textures. The addition members may be removably coupled with the tire sidewall with a mechanical coupling means, such as a recess or depression adjacent to a peripheral undercut for yieldingly receiving and retaining a peripheral portion of the addition member. The addition members may be provided with an indicium and a portion of the indicium may be of a color differing from the remainder of the addition member. The sizes, shapes, and thicknesses, as well as the material compositions and elasticities of the addition members, may also vary greatly depending on the intended use thereof.
The conventional addition members may provide distinctive styling, but also permit unique personalized identification. Tire branding information may be accomplished by the use of appropriate addition members. The conventional addition members may also be weighted to provide static and dynamic balancing features to the tire. It may also be possible to couple the addition members to the tire sidewall such that they disengage at a particular load and/or tire inflation pressure. Specialized coatings may further provide visual notification of possible tire damage or departure from normal operating conditions. If abnormal operating conditions do occur or there is damage to the addition members via scuffing, for example, the addition members may readily be replaced since they are detachably secured to the sidewall.